Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire

Historical Description

Shelford, Great, a village and a parish in Cambridgeshire. The village stands near the Gogmagog Hills, 4 miles S by E of Cambridge, and has a station on the main line of the G.E.R. from London to Cambridge, and a post, money order, and telegraph office under Cambridge. The parish comprises 2258 acres; population, 1020. There is a parish council consisting of nine members. The chief manor belongs to Caius College, Cambridge, and two smaller manors belong to St. John's College and the De Freville family. There are some large steam and water flour mills. In the parish are nine contiguous wells, which supply Hobson's Conduit, Cambridge, with water. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Ely; net value, £79 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Ely. The church, which was erected in the latter part of the 14th century, is a fine building of stone and clunch, in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave, S porch, aisles, and a western tower, surmounted by a small spire of wood. It contains some good stained windows and some ancient and interesting tombs and memorials. The chancel was restored in 1890. There is a Baptist chapel.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Civil Registration

For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Great Shelford from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Shelford, Great (St. Mary))

Land and Property

The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Cambridgeshire is available to browse.

Maps

Online maps of Great Shelford are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Cambridgeshire papers online:

• Cambridge Independent Press
• Cambridge Chronicle and Journal
• Huntingdon, Bedford & Peterborough Gazette

Visitations Heraldic

The Visitations of Cambridgeshire 1575 and 1619 is available online.